>> have a beautiful friday, everyone. right now on "america this morning," the new and potentially more dangerous mutation of the coronavirus arrives in the u.s. what it means for the effectiveness of the covid vaccine and the precautions you should take to protect your family. a bulletin from law enforcement. the new warning about the potential for political violence in the coming days and a new proposal to protect the capitol. plus the gop congresswoman who has supported the qanon conspiracy theory faces new scrutiny. what she said about the las vegas shooting massacre and the assignment she's now received on capitol hill. wall street versus main street. is the gam new questions after trading in certain stocks favored by amateur investors is suspended. one ceo explains what could

happen next as the market mayhem continues. plus, megadiscovery. what may have been the biggest animal ever to walk the earth. and the new lawsuit over what's really inside subway sandwichesfa fain fights b and this morning paying tribute to the legendary cicely tyson. good friday morning, everyone. i'm kenneth moton. >> and i'm kyra phillips. mona is off. we begin with those mutations of the coronavirus. >> found in the u.s. raising concern about how effective the covid vaccines will be. >> this morning we're expecting to learn new details about a potential third vaccine and johnson & johnson is expected to release new data today and growing urgency to get shots into more arms. this morning, new evidence that vaccines might be less effective against mutations of the

coroe s. >> the south afric v quite concerning, and it has spread relatively widely now. i believe it's in more than 20 different countries. >> reporter: two people in south carolina are the first known americans infected with a highly contagious variant from south africa. the patients have no travel history or connection to one another. distancing, wearing the masks is now even more important because the virus mutates each time it makes copies of itself. it has a chance to mutate further. >> reporter: there's no evidence that the variant causes more severe disease. but this morning one drugmaker's new data is raising concern. novavax says its vaccine which is in a late stage trial was nearly 90% effective during a stud

variant, novavax says its vaccine was only 49% effective. >> we have to keep an eye out on this, and we have to be able, and we are already doing it, of being able to modify for the future, not for tomorrow or the next day, but modify for the future the vaccine so that maybe we will have to give someone a boost to cover these new variants. >> reporter: the south african variant spreads more easily like mutant strains from brazil and one from the uk already in 28 states. now pfizer and moderna are working on a booster shot to fight these variants. >> my biggest fear at this moment is that these variants are going to take hold and take off across the united states. >> reporter: in the meantime, s to avoid traveling. earlier this week president biden announced a travel ban from south africa but it doesn't go into effect until tomorrow. >> it tas a ttle bit ome to put these restrictions in

place to, work with airlines, work with regulatory authorities to get them in place. we did that as quickly as possible and before there was a reported case, of course. >> reporter: critics say the travel ban is too little too late, and ce aw vari fnd in on ea >> we're only seng becomes detectable that we can actually know for sure that it's a new variant, then it has already spread at that time in point to many, many places. >> reporter: and another vaccine news officials in germany says the astrazeneca vaccine not yet approved in the u.s. should not be given to people over 65 because of insufficient data. there's more fallout from the pandemic. americans are smoking again. after years of decline cigarette sales steady last year as people staying home lit up more often. we turn to washington and a georgia congresswoman. it comes as law enforcement warns about the threat for politi

alex, good morning. >> reporter: good friday morning, kenneth. former president trump has been out of public eye since leaving washington last week, but his presence still looms large on capitol hill. this morning, donald trump loyalists in congress are deepening their ties with the former president as he faces an impeachment trial and fresh turmoil in the republican party. [ crowd chanting "usa" ] >> reporter: republican matt gaetz of florida traveling to wyoming to rally against liz cheney on her home turf. cheney was the most high profile republican. >> how can you even call yourself a representative when you don't represent the will of the people? that's what all the neocons ask about the arab dictators. i figure maybe we ought to ask the same question of a beltway bureaucrat turned fake cowgirl

who supported an impeachment that is deeply unpopular in the state of wyoming. >> reporter: and thursday at mar-a-lago trump meeting with house republican leader kevin mccarthy who once said trump bears responsibility for the riot. the meeting described as cordial with a spokesperson adding president trump has agreed to work with leader mccarthy on helping the republican party become a majority in the house. it comes amid growing concern about physical violence on capitol hill. authorities now warning that extremisti extremistists who believe the q- conspiracy theory could be plotting political violence this weekend. police want to set up a permanent fence around the capitol. d.c.'s mayor opposes the idea. house speaker nancy pelosi wants more protection members of congress saying they now face a, quote, enemy within. >> we have members of congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of congress. >> reporter: she didn't mention names but pelosi's words are likely a reference to marjorie taylor greene, the georgia congresswoman for

threats and conspiracy theories posted online before being elected. in a 2019 video greene is heard declaring pelosi a traitor and implying she should be executed. >> it's a crime punishable by death is what treason is. nancy pelosi is guilty of treason. >> reporter: and in another video greene questions whether the las vegas shooting massacre was a setup by liberals to gain support for gun control. >> i am really wondering if there is -- there's a bigger motive there. >> reporter: and then greene seen here in this 2019 video taunting david hogg, a survivor of the parkland high school shooting who was lobbying for gun laws. >> yet you're attacking our second amendment. >> reporter: now republican congresswoman lauren boebert of florida is joining the feud after hogg tweeted, they can put up all the fencing around the capitol, the real threat of marjorie taylor greene and lauren boebert will still be inside. boebert replied referencing the video of hogg and greene. >> you have nothing to say? no words?

l sahow tough u were whe questioned face-to-face. give your keyboard a rest, child. republican leaders have assigned marjorie taylor greene to the house education committee. democrats now demanding that she be removed because of her previous statements. kenneth. >> all right, alex, thank you. two inmates who escaped from an arizona prison last weekend are back in custody. police and u.s. marshals wearing body cams confronted them in a field and refused orders to get on the ground and tried to run. the officers used stun guns to subdue them. southern california is taking a direct hit from a storm dumping nearly a foot of rain and almost 100 inches of snow. floodwaters cut off a road in santa barbara county stranding a driver who had to be rescued. the threat of mudslides triggered many evacuations. meanwhile, in the california mountains, this dog tried to get through 87 inches of snow and doing it pretty adorably. time now for a look at your friday forecast.

the northeast gets a frigid what blast today. the coldest temperatures rather, of winter so far, it'll be new york's coldest day in two years and this morning's windchills across new england will drop below zero. that cold air sets up a potential nor'easter. starting sunday stretching into tuesday. washington to boston will seek a mix of rain and snowy which will make roads very treacherous. checking today's high temps, warm and sunny in florida but only 20s around the great lakes. mid-40s in the northwest. coming up the return of the "mighty ducks." details later in "the pulse." first the explosive scene outside an immigration facility in portland, oregon. when we come back we'll celebrate the life of cicely tyson.

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we call him baby boy, and we will go on calling him that until his father decides on a name for him eight days from today. this morning we celebrate an icon, cicely tyson has died. she was a trail blazer on the big screen and small screen. >> she even won a tony award at age 88. the apollo theatre paid tribute with the marquee reading, rest in peace pioneering icon. >> common complaint, you just don't qualify, huh? >> miss cicely tyson, star of stage and screen for 70 years, the black woman from harlem a pioneer first discovered as a model gracing the covers of magazines. behind that face of poise and elegance an extraordinarily talented actress. >> nathan! >> reporter: tyson's breakout performance, "sounder" in 1972 portraying the strong wife of a sharecropper getting her an oscar nomination. tyson later winning two emmys

for a role as a former slave in the tv drama, "the autobiography of miss jane pittman." >> make me proud. make me proud. >> reporter: from "roots" to "fried green tomatoes" the roles kept coming and tyson kept working well into her '80s and '90s. from the film "the help" to abc's "how to get away with murder." >> my love for you fills me up. >> reporter: the regal and humble ultimate elder only playing strong black women. telling our robin roberts in 2007 she only took scripts that made her skin tingle. >> there were so many issues that i felt that i had to address, and i used my career as my platform. >> reporter: that matriarchal voice to the black community seen in so many tyler perry films. >> young black men, take your place now, starting now, starting now. >> reporter: that mountain of honors for tyson also included an honorary oscar, a

tony award at 88 and in 2016 president obama awarding tyson the medal of freedom. this morning, the tributes. oprah saying she used her career to illuminate the role of black people. just this week the 96-year-old's memoir was published, "just as i am." and in one of her final interviews she reflected on life and death. >> when the time comes, what do you want us to remember about you? >> i done my best. that's all. >> icon and even more tributes this morning. actress viola davis posting, you ma m ia world whiberitfor us da. coming up, the chaos on wall street takes a new turn. also ahead, the new lawsuit over what's inside subway sandwiches. once-weekly ozempic® is helping ncer) many people with type 2 diabetes like emily lower their blood sugar.

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have been creating chaos taking aim at billionaires who bet against struggling companies. some brokerage sites are now being accused of siding with billionaires after restricting certain trades. abc's andrea fujii explains. >> reporter: this morning, wall street bracing for another roller coaster as trading resumes on volatile stocks like gamestop after the trading site robinhood suspended purchases thursday. this after the new york attorney general announced an investigation into robinhood's activity. the company's ceo saying they halted purchases on several companies including gamestop, amc theatres, blackberry and bed, bath and beyond largely due to liability concerns. >> so we haven't really seen anything like this before, and to prudently manage the risk and the deposit requirements, we had to restrict buying in these 13 stocks. >> reporter: t.d. ameritrade also restricted transactions angering politicians on both sides of the aisle.

congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted, this is unacceptable. we now need to know more about robinhood app's decisions to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade stocks as they see fit. in a rare move republican senator ted cruz agreed with ocasio-cortez. all th frenzy began when traders banded together in online chat forms like reddit to boost the stock of strugglingle retailer gamestop and overthrow wall street hedge funds who were shorting the stock betting that gamestop would fail. the amateur traders helped push shares up by 1700% costing the hedge funds more than $5 billion. one hedge fund had to be bailed out by oth billionaire investor leon cooperman says pumping up stock prices like this amounts to playing with fire. >> this is not going to end well when it ends, and the bigger question is when does it end? >> reporter: he went on to comment on the current market conditions and those who claim billionaires aren't paying their fairha in tater rakinganies.

doing what it's doing is people are sitting at home getting their checks from the government, okay, and this fair share is a [ bleep ] concept. it's just a way of attacking wealthy people, and, you know, i think it's inappropriate. we all got to work together and pull together. >> reporter: but jamie rogozinski who started wall street bets says there is a reason his page has attracted millions of small time investors. >> you make money. you're beating them at their own in towa force atweulh knock ou >> meanwhile, senator elizabeth warren is slamming the s.e.c. for not keeping the markets honest. as for gamestop and those other companies, all bets are off when the markets open today. kenneth, kyra. >> andrea, thank you. subway claims its tuna

sandwich isn't fishy enough is wrong. two claim their analysis proves tuna is neither tuna nor fish. subway insists it delivers 100% cooked tuna to its restaurants. it calls the lawsuit reckless. coming up, the new fashion trend when it comes to jeans. also ahead, the cutest ever interruption during the news. women with metastatic breast cancer. our time... ...for more time... ...has come. living longer is possible- and proven in postmenopausal women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant. in a clinical trial, kisqali plus fulvestrant helped women live longer with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. and it significantly delayed disease progression. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in tellr do, cough, chest pain, aia change in your heartbeat,ts dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes,

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emilio estevez is back as coach. that movie starts streaming in march on disney plus. scientists say they may be holding the remains of the largest animal ever to walk the earth. >> it's a titanosaur about 98 million years old and dug up the bones in argentina. >> it was 43 yards long from head to tail. next good news for anyone who's gained weight during the pandemic. baggy jeans are making a comeback. >> i don't know if that's a good thing. according to levi strauss which launched a new line of looser fitting jeans for men and women. >> sales are off to a fast start. and finally an aforable on air interruption. >> it happened to a meteorologist at our l.a. station. watch the bottom of the screen here. >> in southern california, it looks like -- this baby down below, all right. 62 in pasadena. we'll talk about this storm. he walks now, guys, so i've lost all control. >> meteorologist leslie lopez showing she is a mom, she's a scientist, and she can

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checking the top stories, a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus from south africa has been found in the u.s. that's raising concern about the effectiveness of the current covid vaccines. johnson & johnson is expected to release new data about its vaccine today. democrats in congress say they plan to take action on president biden's $1.9 trillion covid stimulus bill with or without republican support. the president says he remains hopeful he can win bipartisan support. general motors plans to end the sale of gas and diesel powered cars by 2035. the switch to all electric vehicles is part of a plan to be carbon neutral by 2040. today's weather an arctic blast gives the northeast its coldest temperatures of the season so far and more rain and mountain snow across much of the west. finally, she's an actress, a neu neuroscientist and now preparing to guest hospital "jeopardy!"

>> will ganss spoke to mayim . >> let's start with romantic dinner music, shall we? >> reporter: she's a real-life scientist with a ph.d. from ucla. >> called neuroscience. >> reporter: now taking on a new role, guest host of "jeopardy!" >> my 15-year-old son saw a rumor about this literally i'm like, on tiktok or instagram. i don't know. he said did you know people are talking about this? i said, miles, that's ridiculous and then i texted richard white who is my agent and i'm like, richard, my 15-year-old said pelerealking authis. and here we are. >> reporter: this new gig just makes sense. >> it really is my wheelhouse in terms of, you know, where i spend my free time. i'm a game person. i'm a geek. i got it all down. this is like the most iconic thing i've ever been asked to do. >> are your signaling devices working? >> yes, unfortunately, they are.

>> reporter: i do not envy the position you're in. to step into the shoes. >> no, it sounds terrible. you know, i don't think anyone will try to imitate alex trebek. that's impossible so i think every guest is going to bring their own particular personality and flair as you have it and i'll bring whatever i have. >> reporter: what if mayim was a contestant. >> people are like, you're so smart. you have a ph.d. that's really about persistence and memory. it's not necessary -- plenty of people are smarter than me that don't have ph.d.s. >> categories she'd crush. >> bob dylan lyrics. >> reporter: the category she's crash. >> certain aspects of history are just missing in my brain. i don't know where they went. i learned them and they're gone. >> reporter: who needs history when you have so much going on in the present. mayim is producing starring in "call me kat" and lncd

>> have a beautiful friday, everyone. right now on "america this morning," the new and potentially more dangerous mutation of the coronavirus arrives in the u.s. what it means for the effectiveness of the covid vaccine and the precautions you should take to protect your family. a bulletin from law potential for political violence in the coming days and a new proposal to protect the capitol. plus the gop congresswoman who has supported the qanon conspiracy theory faces new scrutiny. what she said about the las vegas shooting massacre and the assignment she's now received on capitol hill. wall street versus main street. is the game rigged for the rich? new questions after trading in certain stocks favored by amateur investors is suspended.